2013-02-15 15:14:03

Pope's secretary to continue in dual role


February 15, 2013 - The personal secretary of Pope Benedict XVI will accompany the retired Pontiff to the papal summer residence of Castelgandolfo, outside Rome, and will follow him later to his residence in the Vatican gardens. This was one of the highlights of the press briefing by papal spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi on Thursday. The Jesuit priest told reporters that Pope’s personal secretary, Archbishop Georg Ganswein, is also expected to continue in his recent appointment as Prefect of the Papal Household when Pope Benedict’s successor is elected. The 56-year-old archbishop, the Pope’s personal secretary since 2003, even before his papapcy,, will live with Benedict in a converted monastery in the Vatican gardens, and will also go to work every day in the Apostolic Palace as Prefect of the Papal Household. Asked about whether the dual role of Archbishop Ganswein will influence the new papacy and the governance of the Church, Fr. Lombardi ruled out such fear saying the job of prefect is very technical, organizing the Pope's audiences, and has no real governmental or doctrinal role to it. Another news development of Fr. Lombardi’s briefing was the confirmation of reports that Pope Benedict XVI suffered a minor head injury during his trip to Mexico. Fr. Lombardi denied, however, that the incident was a factor in the Pope’s decision to resign. “I can affirm,” he said, “that [the injury] was not relevant for the trip [to Mexico] – indeed, it did not affect the calendar in any way,” nor was it relevant, “in the decision [to renounce the Papal office] as such.”







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